e-news 12th June 2015

Huge public pressure leads to TTIP vote collapse Molly received over 6000 emails on the subject of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which was due to be voted on this week in a Strasbourg plenary session of the European Parliament.

President of the Parliament, Martin Schulz, decided to abandon the vote, blaming the fact there were more than 200 amendments tabled. However, Greens believe the decision to cancel had more to do with political parties in the European Parliament running scared of exposing their own political divisions and of the huge public opposition to TTIP. More than 2 million EU citizens have signed a petition against the deal.

Campaigners and Greens believe the controversial deal threatens workers’ rights, environmental regulations and food safety laws. Of particular concern is the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism which would potentially allow corporations to sue Governments in secret courts if a Government passed laws which limited a corporation’s profits or activity. Commenting on the decision to scupper the vote, Molly said:

“This attempt to remove the right of all MEPs to vote on this very important report on TTIP is nothing short of a scandal. Thousands of constituents have emailed me today and I will not be cheated of my right to represent their will to oppose ISDS and the undermining of European protection of environments and animal welfare.”

The Parliament’s Trade Committee will now consider the mass of amendments before tabling them for a future plenary session.Full story Further information from Greens in EuropeMolly’s response to the many thousands of constituents who contacted her about their concerns over TTIP and the ISDS mechanism.

The cancellation of the vote on TTIP received wide coverage. England’s three MEPs had letters published in both the Independent and Guardian newspapers. Molly had a blog posted on Open Democracy and there was a flurry of activity on social media.

Kicking corruption out of footballIn the wake of the FIFA scandals, the European Parliament adopted a resolution challenging the decisions to award World Cups to Qatar and Russia. MEPs called for the fulfilment of human rights and labour rights by a country to be a fundamental precondition for the award of any tournament. Greens also called for a code of conduct against corruption to be urgently adopted and for more women on the boards of sports organisations.

Baku beyond the paleContinuing with a sporting theme, Greens have called on all EU and national politicians to boycott the Baku European Games. Azerbaijan, the country hosting the Games, is accused of major human rights violations including detaining prisoners of conscience and rights activists on spurious grounds. Greens do not believe this kind of regime should be handed a public platform like the Games to try and enhance its public image.

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